Non-Rent Monies

Here are variousblog resources related to non-rent monies and payments, for example service charges, fees, and other costs and charges. These can be directly charged or hidden away, and are important to know what you may have to pay or might be able to charge another property interest for.

These can be a real curve ball if you don’t expect them - suddenly being sent a ‘maintenance charge’ or ‘service charge’ from, say, a management company for so-called communal services on your estate. If you own a flat on a long leasehold then these make more sense for the communal running costs and service charge, but when you buy your own house freehold on an estate, to suddenly have these land on your door step can be frustrating.

They don’t tend to be huge amounts, often from £50 to £200 each year, but that’s still a lot when you don’t know what it’s for. You also tend to find them on newer housebuilder developments.

The 3 Popular Areas

The best way to describe how they often come about is to understand the three types of land...

In a property context, service charges help spread the cost of looking after any communal or shared areas of a building between those who use and benefit from those areas. A block of offices or apartments would typically have a shared staircase and lift for everyone in the building; there would be shared walls and structural elements, and it may also have an external carpark and garden area.

All of these amenities must be maintained and serviced by the building owner or the management company, and although at first glance it may seem that the provision of these services is worth the tenants paying more rent for, the reality is that a completely separate service charge exists to cover these costs. This charge can vary significantly from...

Here is a transcript of this quick video explanation of what a property service charge, with these slides available as PDF at Issuu if you click here:

Welcome to the Property Management Guide quick explanation of property service charges.

In short, property service charges are a way of having everyone pay towards shared costs for parts of a property that no single person is directly responsible, like stairs or lifts, the main walls and roof, and outside areas like the garden or carpark.

Of course, the buck for looking after these communal features stops with the main owner or landlord, and although you might think it would make sense for the landlord simply to cover the costs and charge the tenants slightly more rent as necessary, in...